A rambling of thoughts, ideas and reflections from and on the life of a girl who's just trying to figure everything out and somehow wants to change the world.

Monday, December 14, 2009

I have no words...

Tonight the worst kind of email went out to the Darden student body. It's never a good sign to see an email from the Dean that contains the name of a friend and fellow student, but as I digested the contents of the email my worst fears were realized: he had passed away.

Justin was the most talented guy I knew. He would wow me with his salsa dancing skills (and impress me with his patience as he tried to teach me) and then I would discover that he was fluent in Spanish and had climbed mountains. He was this amazing griller, which is the best kind of talent to have in a neighbour. And my neighbour he was, living directly below me. He also gave amazing hugs, one of which I could really use right now.

We went to church together, too. I remember sitting beside him as he tried to balance his Bible and his journal on his knee. We always had amazing conversations about faith and God and worship, and perhaps one of the only silver linings in this whole situation is that I have faith that I will see him again.

To my Darden family, I wish I had more words. I wish I could say more than, "I don't know what to say." But that's all I've got for now. If anyone needs to talk, please call or shoot me an email or Facebook message.

5 comments:

Julie, nicely said. You were one of the first persons about whom I thought when I read Dean Bruner's email. While I was blessed to get to know Justin through the Tuesday First Coffee studies, I knew that you guys spent a lot more time together. I, like you, have little words. Know my heart and my prayers are with you, your fellow FY classmates, and the entire Darden community who were also touched by him. I'm up (as you can see), so feel free to email if you want to chat.

Julie, if you are able to, please forward me that e-mail. Justin was a very good friend of mine, we traveled to Latin America together. I ran across your blog while checking the Darden website for verification that he did actually pass on.

Pete - I can do that if you give me your email address. You can either send it to me via email (all Darden emails have the same format LastNameFirstInitialLastTwoDigitsOfGraduationYear @darden.virginia.edu) or post it here and I can delete it after I get it.

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what can I say? I'm just a girl who's finding her way in the world with the help of a God who's more amazing than anything. I've had my ups and downs and He's been faithful to keep me growing through it all.